Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal
by ThirdCharm01
Summary: MI, MN, MIN & JD. Dark Humor at Sheridan's expense & Lochley bashing. Marcus is revived almost a year after saving Susan’s life into what seems to be a bright future for everyone, only to find that an obsessive stalker is after him & that all is not as it
1. Chapter 1

Title: Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Author: Third Charm

Fandom: Babylon 5

Pairings: Marcus/Susan, Marcus/Neroon, Susan/Neroon, Marcus/Susan/Neroon and Sheridan/Delenn - for now.

Story Type: Drama, Action, Dark Humor, Romance

Current Rating: M

Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income has been made.

Warnings: SO VERY AU and AT and going for broke! WIP, Combat, profanity, slash and dark themes.

Spoilers: You name it; it's in there.

Summary: Marcus is revived almost a year after saving Susan's life into what seems to be a bright future for everyone only to find that an obsessive and politically powerful stalker is after him and that all is not as it seems in the Universe. There are now new and more deadly players in the game of galactic dominance. And heroes long thought dead are once again found in the darkest of circumstances.

Acknowledgments: I must thank ckl for taking the time to beta read this story.

Author's Note: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations.

* * *

Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Chapter One

Marcus cursed under his breath as he practically ran into what were now his new and had once been Delenn's old diplomatic quarters. As soon as the door slid closed and the newly installed Minbari gravimetric auto-lock activated, the exhausted Ranger collapsed against it. It took Marcus a full ten minutes to catch his breath and calm himself.

"God and Valen both damn that bloody, Clark-loving psychotic succubus! A man can't even eat with her around!" Marcus hissed aloud as he tiredly peeled himself away from the door and made his way to the lounge where he collapsed.

After some time of just laying against the lounge pillows and "vegging" as Zack referred to it, Marcus sat up and ran a trembling and exhausted hand through his already disheveled hair. Marcus then rested his elbows on his knees and hung his head in despair. The newly reactivated Station Ranger grimaced at his predicament. He was starting to believe that the Warrior Caste Leadership was right and that John was just continuing to bury his head in the sand.

Why him? What had he ever done to deserve this? Even the destruction of Arisia didn't merit this! By all that was held Holy, even mass murderers were given the merciful punishment of Death of Personality, a new personality and a chance to become worthy members of society, not this – this living hell! God and Valen, how had it come to this?

Marcus groaned in frustration over is lot in life. Ever since Steven had had an "eureka moment" and ended his nearly ten month long impersonation of a Rangercicle, and by the same token, ended John's dependence on Lorien's nanites to stay alive, he'd been dodging the "Babylon Bitch" as he'd dubbed her. Marcus shook his head at what he'd put up with so far.

Somehow, even though she'd had no right to enter, that bloody bitch Lochley had come into med lab and watched as Steven had revived him. Apparently, she'd been very "perturbed" to find out that "vital Station resources" had been used to preserve a "dead man" on the orders of a very "unstable" (And just look who was talking!) exiting Captain. Therefore, in her high and mighty opinion, such a breach of protocol gave her the right to butt in where she didn't belong.

So instead of seeing Susan's very angry face, or for that matter, any of his friends' and/or comrades' faces when he came out of cold storage, he saw the face of a very the disapproving stranger. Not that Steven had let her stay long. The irate doctor had unceremoniously kicked out the stranger and called in those that were closest to Marcus and still on Station.

At first, Marcus had been disappointed to learn that Susan was not there, but had understood after Steven had deemed him strong enough to know and explained just how close Susan had come to a complete breakdown after his "death". As his healing in med lab progressed, his very happy friends had filled him in as to what was currently going on. They'd told him what had happened while he'd been in his sub-zero sleep too.

And thank God and Valen he'd been revived! Poor Lennier had been within an inch of developing _Vad'id Hael_ (Dark fire of the Soul) over his love of Delenn and the blind woman hadn't even seen it! It had taken only one visit where Lennier and Delenn had visited him together for Marcus to see what was coming. After a number of visits by Delenn and his hinting at the subject with his clueless and/or purposely self-blinded _Entil'Zha_ (Ranger Commander) not getting the hints, a very frustrated Marcus had finally blurted out the problem in front of both her and the new President Sheridan.

After the explanation that Sheridan demanded of what _Vad'id Hael_ meant and the loud kafuffle that followed that explanation, a very grateful President Sheridan became his new best friend, John. To show his gratitude at having a potentially nasty situation nipped in the bud, the man always made sure that Marcus had something to stave off the boredom of being a temporary invalid. John also came visiting quite often after the situation with poor Lennier, who was now getting intensive counseling back at Temple, had been happily settled. Unfortunately, so had the new Captain of Babylon 5.

As Steven had informed his still Susan fixated and oblivious self, the Babylon Bitch had changed her mind in regards to him somewhere along the line. The doctor was sure that it had happened during all her very annoying and highly unsolicited visits to med lab. Now Lochley thought he was the cat's meow, even after the hell he'd brought down on her head, and was pursuing him almost to the point of felony stalking!

The situation had at first been funny to all of the old Babylon 5 Command Staff, their old execs and all the old Ambassadors and their aides. Everyone had yucked it up at his expense for weeks. Zack had even told him that "what was good for the goose was good for the gander too" and now he knew exactly what Susan had felt at times! After they had found out that she'd "accidentally" lost and/or blocked the first three messages that had been sent to the _EAS Titan _to inform Susan of Marcus's recovery, the situation had stopped being so funny to anyone. It had become very worrying in the very instant when they'd found out that Lochley had Marcus watched "for his own safety" due to his "still fragile condition" by one of her EA cronies almost all the time.

Delenn had been unbelievably angry when she'd found that out. After she'd sent a high priority signal via her Minbari diplomatic channels to Susan, the First Lady had stormed her way into the Council Chamber and confronted the psychotic witch in the middle of a full Council meeting. Lochley had pulled out all the stops in the following and extremely ugly cat fight and had brought up her status as the "first Mrs. John Sheridan" right in front of the entire League Council and fledging ISA. John had NOT been pleased. He stood with his now shell-shocked wife and coldly responded with, "A mickied drink, a drugged and drunken roll on Vegas Station and a worthless piece of paper that hadn't even lasted a day did NOT a marriage make!"

Needless to say, all political hell had broken loose that day and one major diplomatic incident had been born. Earth Dome had been dragged in at that point. So had the Minbari _Marka'ri Minsa_ (Council of Clans) and the Grey Council since, under Minbari law, divorce did not exist. And the Minbari government had NOT been pleased, nor had Earth Dome, but unlike President Luchenko they had NOT been willing to negotiate the situation away.

Getting the Councils to understand that the marriage had been annulled, and what that meant, because John had been drugged and drunk at the time of the ceremony and consummation (And hadn't John earned one HELL of a interstellar rep for being able to "perform" in that condition?) and therefore did not know what he was doing had taken the patience of Jobe on Marcus's part. A very desperate John had begged Marcus, who had still been in a hover-chair and still recovering, to act as his and Delenn's Speaker the minute they'd been informed that the _Marka'ri Minsa_ legal tribunal was charging them with adultery and bigamy. Since Marcus was both worried for his friends and bored out of his mind due to his stay in med lab, he'd agreed to the almost impossible mission of explaining an annulment to the Councils. Luckily for the Sheridans, Marcus's standing as both an _Anla'Shok_ (Ranger) who'd fought _Den'shah_ (duel to the death) to protect his _Entil'Zha_ and a Warrior who'd literally given his life to a dying comrade hade made all the Clans and Castes willing to listen. After all, only a true _Id'Minbari_ (Minbari souled human) would be so true and loyal to those he loved.

Once the Councils had been made to understand the situation and the Clan Leaders and _Satais _(Rulers)had had a good chuckle at John's youthful gullibility, Marcus had thought the subject was put to rest and was ready to breathe a sigh of relief. Then some bright eyed, bushy tailed, eager to please, over achieving young aide – and in Marcus's opinion, unrelenting bastard – that had studied the EA legal codes in way too great a detail brought up the subject of "date rape". When the Councils understood what that meant, they were howling mad and after Lochley's blood. To the Minbari, rape was even worse a crime than murder. It was the worst crime possible by their standards. Since John was now a Minbari citizen due to his marriage to Delenn, they wanted Lochley prosecuted under both EA and Minbari law for it. That was when Marcus had to explain the EA statute of limitations.

The Councils, which were now extremely forgiving and protective of John because, of course, such a "horrid trauma" would give rise to the obvious psychological issues that had spawned "the Star Killer", then turned to the EA and demanded that Lochley be stripped of her Command and rank and be extradited to Minbar to face charges for an assault on one of their citizens. After all, the Minbari Federation was intelligent enough to have no statute of limitations on Capital crimes. And THAT was when Lochley had finally understood that she really was in trouble! Apparently, being convicted of rape was the one single thing in all of Minbari law thing the nullified Valen's Ban.

The snowballing situation had almost started a second Earth-Minbari War, ripped apart the fledgling ISA and stressed Delenn to the point that she almost miscarried. The Station had taken sides in what had become an interstellar tabloid battle of "he said/she said". Lochley and her supporters, who were mainly new EA attached relief crew, were outnumbered, out gunned and utterly reviled. They were hated both for not fighting Clark and for being so disrespectful of the First Couple. Then there was the fact that most of the old hands really thought that what she had allegedly done did amount to date rape. To make matters worse, none of the Ambassadors were willing to work with her and some even openly referred to her as the "Whore of Babylon" in front of the intergalactic press.

Marcus had to give the Babylon Bitch credit though. She'd fought like a hellcat through it all. Elizabeth Lochley entrenched herself, called favors from both Earth Dome and Earth Force and had somehow forced President Luchenko to back her position. The EA, Lochley and her Earth Force JAG rep maintained that no crime had been committed in the first place, and even if it had been, it hadn't occurred within the Federation borders and John hadn't been a citizen of the Minbari Federation at the time. Therefore, the Council of Clans' tribunal did not have jurisdiction to prosecute the so-called criminal case in the first place.

It hadn't worked. In the EA/Minbari Treaty of the Line, it clearly stated that the in the matter of an alleged crime against a citizen of the Minbari Federation by a citizen of the Earth Alliance, no matter the history of said crime, extradition was mandatory, and visa versa. After almost starting a new war with the Minbari over the issue, both Earth Dome and the Earth Force Joint Chiefs had seen that the Federation viewed the Treaty as ironclad and completely binding. Once they saw that Lochley was a lost cause, they'd jumped ship on her and left Captain Lochley to face the music alone.

In the end, Lochley had barely managed to keep her life, freedom and rank (and the rank was now very temporary), though not her post. The legendary John Sheridan was the only being in known space that could achieve that miraculous feat. He'd done it by using a classic military strategy; the three pronged attack. His first prong was doing the "let bygones be bygones" routine in the press. His second prong was heavily petitioning everyone and anyone on the Council of Clans to not prosecute because it would "conflict with his Christian Religious beliefs of forgiveness". Finally, the third prong was calling in favors with other ISA governments left and right to put pressure on the Minbari to listen to him.

That said, there was no way in hell that the wily politician in Sheridan was going to give up his new status as Minbari's Newly Found and Wounded Son by being so stupid as to say it hadn't been date rape, just youthful stupidity on both their parts. Politically, when it came to the Federation, it was better to be known as a "weak" rape victim than as "Sheridan the Star Killer". Even Delenn agreed with this stance and backed John one hundred percent. That went without mentioning the fact that she hated the Babylon Bitch just on principal. Or the fact that Delenn wanted Lochley filleted for messing with Marcus and Susan's communications.

What kept hammering the nails in Lochley's coffin though, was the fact that the ISA First Couple never publicly refuted the charges nor did they in any way defend her. They seemed to try and avoid the issue as much as possible and asked that the press let the past stay in the past. When directly asked if the charges were true, "no comment" came out faster than light speed. This of course had half the intergalactic press crucifying Lockley while the other half was saying that it must all be on big "misunderstanding". After all, no one was stupid enough to charge the Minbari Government with making false accusations.

The issue split the Minbari governing bodies as well. The issue in the Councils was split down Caste lines with the Religious and Worker Castes siding with John and saying that it was a Human matter and therefore the ISA President's wishes in regards to the charges should be granted. This said, they privately and urgently counseled him to change his stance for "his own good". John had even been visited on the Station by a delegation of Religious and Worker Caste Clan Leaders that included an Elder of the Family of Mir which had then oh so gently and sympathetically lectured him that, "One should of course forgive because doing so frees one's soul, but seeing his "attacker" brought to justice would also help heal the "old wounds to his soul" that forgiveness could not".

It had taken everything John and Delenn had in order to keep the proper mien though it all. John had thanked God and all of Creation that his family had come to see him and Delenn when this latest hell had broken loose. His very Christian and very experienced Ambassador of a father had been able to save the day with the delegation by thoroughly explaining the New Testament and how that Christian Belief had helped to "heal" his son in a way that the Minbari Elders could accept.

On the other hand, the Warrior Caste was incensed by the idea of a Warrior, any Warrior, being so shamefully used and wanted the matter to go to tribunal. The Warrior Caste Clan Leaders believed that it was Sheridan's "shame" at not noticing the drugging of his drink and then not being able to defend himself because of his drugged state that was causing him to try and avoid tribunal. The entire leadership of Caste had counseled John to take his case to tribunal. In the Caste's eyes, there was no dishonor in being victimized, but there was dishonor for any Warrior in avoiding a righteous battle, which they saw this matter as. Even the new Wind Sword Clan Leader had commed Sheridan to try and convince him to not let his "shame" stop him from facing down this _Mora'dum _(Death of Fear).

Luckily for the embattled Captain of Babylon 5, The Warrior Caste had been outvoted and Lochley escaped with her hide intact. Her career though, was a lost cause. After the prominence of the scandal in the interstellar press, the Federation's adamant refusal to acknowledge her status as the Captain of Babylon 5 and the unbelievable pressure from everyone else in the ISA on the EA, Lochley was being recalled to Earth.

Marcus snorted at what he had been told was the wording of that recall notice. Corwin had memorized it when it had come in and then shared it with all of the available old crowd. From what it had said, if Lochley wasn't forced to retire from Earth Force in the same manor as John had been once she got back, Marcus would eat his own _denn'bok_ (Minbari pike) with hot sauce on it! Anyway, the bitch's replacement had been chosen by the ISA this time around and they hadn't given a damn about smoothing any EA and Earth Force ruffled feathers. Lochley's ignominious exit was now only days away.

In the mean time, the scandal was still front-page news all over known space and the psychotic woman was still stalking him. For whatever reason, Lochley didn't blame him for her problems and in her warped mind thought that "they still had a future together". As Marcus counted down the days until her replacement arrived and she was booted off the Station with all the proper procedures and regulations, he was in escape and evade mode on his own.

John and Delenn had left for Minbar in order to go into maternity seclusion and to avoid the press. They had taken Steven with them because of Delenn's and the baby's precarious health. Michael had had to go Mars because of an emergency with the board of directors of EGI. Lyta was too busy helping her new "friend" Byron in getting the rogue telepaths settled to be of any help. Londo was on Centauri Prime trying to clean up a scandal almost as bad as the whole Lochley mess (It was only getting the bottom half of the front pages, not the headlines.) that one of the younger courtiers had started and G'Kar was in seclusion meditating on his religious writings. Everyone else was trying to hold the Station and the ISA together during this storm.

Marcus was pulled out of his musings by the comm. going off. He slowly and wearily got up and went to answer it. The face that he saw as he turned on the now heavily secured BabCom unit made him sigh in relief.

"Oh thank God and Valen it's you, Susan! Thank you for not missing the check in call. How long before you get here?" Marcus immediately asked.

"We're still three and a half days out, Marcus." Susan answered. "How are you holding up?"

Marcus shuddered. "Not well, Susan. Not well at all. Can't your people pull any more power out of your reactors?" he asked desperately.

Susan sighed in frustration. "I'm already redlining the engines to get the constant speed that we're getting now and my engineering team is cursing me to hell and back. No matter how powerful she is the _Titan_ will never match a White Star in speed, _dushanko moi _(my soul). Just go to ground until I get there and personally kick her insane, Clark-loving ass off of my – our Station."

Marcus took a shuddering breath and sent a desperate and pleading look to the woman he'd given his life to and still loved. "I don't know if I can keep evading her, _Susachtka_. And I'm starting to think that she's hired some slicer to try hack my auto-lock. Well, it's either that or I'm getting paranoid and/or losing my mind."

Susan ground her teeth in frustration and rage. No matter how much he annoyed her, Marcus was _HER_ Ranger and the Whore of Babylon was so NOT getting another notch on her bedpost! And definitely not at the expense of a virgin!

"Get Zack to bunk with you, and if he can't, get one of your Ranger buddies. Don't leave your quarters even if the effen' Shadows return and under no circumstances are you to let that insane bitch anywhere near you! You'll either go down the same damned and ugly road as John did or end up having to kill her to keep her off you. And we REALLY don't need the stink that will raise with the EA and Earth Force."

Marcus shuddered again and nodded. "Please, please hurry, _ah'fel_ (my love). I really don't want to be that psychotic bitch's latest victim."


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Author: Third Charm

Fandom: Babylon 5

Pairings: Marcus/Susan, Marcus/Neroon, Susan/Neroon, Marcus/Susan/Neroon and Sheridan/Delenn - for now.

Story Type: Drama, Action, Dark Humor, Romance

Current Rating: M

Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income has been made.

Warnings: SO VERY AU and AT and going for broke! WIP, Combat, profanity, slash and dark themes.

Spoilers: You name it; it's in there.

Summary: Marcus is revived almost a year after saving Susan's life into what seems to be a bright future for everyone only to find that an obsessive and politically powerful stalker is after him and that all is not as it seems in the Universe. There are now new and more deadly players in the game of galactic dominance. And heroes long thought dead are once again found in the darkest of circumstances.

Acknowledgments: I must thank ckl for taking the time to beta read this story.

Author's Note: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations.

* * *

Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Chapter Two

Marcus shuddered again and nodded. "Please, please hurry, _ah'fel_ (my love). I really don't want to be that psychotic bitch's latest victim," he begged.

Susan went white with rage at Marcus's pitiful plea. She was just barely able to control her need to destroy something. Oh, but this was not to be borne!

To Susan, Marcus had become the embodiment of Human strength. When they'd first met, he'd just dragged himself to Babylon 5 while suffering from numerous injuries as well as radiation poisoning in order to get help for his beleaguered division of Rangers. Then, after making his request and before he'd fully recovered, he'd sneaked out of Steven's med lab and taken up his duties again.

This man was the Ranger that had taken out entire bars in Down-Below by himself when Delenn had been kidnapped. He'd gone toe to toe with Neroon to protect Delenn and stared Death right in the face. Then, while still waking from emergency surgery and truth be told, barely alive, he'd made Him laugh in med lab.

He'd willingly hooked himself up to a machine that should have killed him in order to save her life. Then, just after being brought back from the dead, he'd saved Lennier from a dreadful fate. He'd even argued intergalactic law before the combined Councils of the Minbari while still paralyzed for the love of God! And now that unmitigated bitch had reduced this man that knew no fear to the point of begging!

Susan painfully swallowed down her rage. The Captain knew that it was of no help to her now. She needed to calm this panicking man down, not have him think that she was abandoning him in a fit of Russian temper.

She spoke in a gentle voice that no member of the _Titan's_ crew had ever heard before, "Hold on, Marcus. Just hold on a bit more. I just got a post from my senior engineer." Susan pretended to study the built in display in her command chair. She pasted a surprised and cheerful look on her face, looked up at Marcus and cheerfully said, "Seems that the genius found us a way to get there faster. New E.T.A. is two Standard days."

Marcus's relief was visible to everyone. "Oh, thank God. Thank God and Valen. Two days just might be doable. Susan, tell your man that he can have whatever he wants when he gets here. And I mean anything he wants. The Command Crew, my Rangers and I will do whatever it takes to get it for him."

Susan chuckled at Marcus heartfelt words. "I'll make sure to pass on the message, Marcus. Now, remember what I told you. Go to ground and get a bodyguard. I'll be there in two days and I'll clean house, I promise. Ivanova out."

As soon as the connection to Marcus's diplomatic BabCom line had been severed, the Russian Iron Maiden climbed right back into the saddle. Susan's face lost all traces of emotion as she grabbed her hairpin set and quickly put her hair back up. The cold and emotionless Captain Ivanova was back.

Now this was the merciless woman that her crew knew. This ice queen was their Captain, not the compassionate and caring woman that started to intermittently show herself a few days ago. The crew had absolutely no idea as to what to do with that woman, that caring woman that always came out when Ivanova was in contact with a certain Ranger.

That woman had been a complete and utter surprise to the crew. The raging Angel of Vengeance that their Captain had been at the beginning of the whole Lochley scandal had also been a surprise. No one had thought that she was capable of any emotions at all, and definitely not the range of emotion they'd seen in the last few months.

Ignoring the combination of discomfort and barely controlled curiosity of her bridge crew, Ivanova opened a channel to her Engineering group. "People, I know that all of you listen in to all my communications with B5 and that I've become the best damned entertainment to be had on this ship. So, since you already know what I've said, I won't repeat it. Get me home in two days, folks. I don't care how you do it, but don't make me into a liar."

Susan cut off the channel and stood up. "I'll be in my office going over the last of the outgoing reports," she said as she walked towards the exit. "Jenson, you have the bridge."

"Aye, Ma'am." replied her Executive Officer as she left.

Once the bridge's primary duty crew was sure that their Captain had left, the speculations and gossiping started. Finally, the navigation officer verbally cornered Jenson. "Come on, you said that one of your cousins served on board B5 during the breakaway. Can't you tell us anything? Who the hell is this Cole? And is anything that's been in the press true?"

Jenson looked around and sighed in frustration. Well, there was no help for it. He'd have to spill what he'd heard. "Well, I don't know if Lochley's really that bonkers, or if she really did what everybody's saying she did, but I can tell you that Lochley's gonna have her ass handed to her when the Captain sees her. And it's going to be ugly! From what I've heard, Ranger Cole's, ah, the Rangers are some kind of combined Human/Minbari Special Forces. You can call them the ISA's peace keepers. Anyway, back on topic, Cole's had, "personal property of Susan Ivanova" printed on his forehead in bright neon letters since he stepped foot on that Station. He's hers, had been hers, and will be hers lock, stock and barrel. Hell, he even went so far as to literally give his life to her!"

"Don't you mean give his life for her?" asked the confused comm. officer.

Jenson shook his head. "No I mean give exactly what I said." The bridge crew looked at him as if he was insane after he made that statement.

Jenson sighed. "All right, but if any of you repeat what I'm about say you'll either end up in the loony bin or will be made to disappear. The Rangers really don't like anybody outside their number knowing about this and neither does the old B5 Command Staff. You'll literally be taking your lives into your hands if you talk."

When the now pale crew acknowledged their collective understanding, he went on, "According to my cousin, Ivanova should have died after that hit to their White Star. All that crap about Cole being in a coma from sustaining injuries in the battle for Earth is just that. It's pure bullshit, so are all those stories about Minbari medicine turning it all around for the Captain. Ivanova was so bad off that even Minbari medical science couldn't save her."

"Then what really happened?" asked the skeptical helmsman.

"What happened was that Cole sentenced himself to death in order to save his lover, that's what. You see, there was this alien machine that the Security on B5 had confiscated, well, at least that's what Davy says happened. Anyway, one of the now extinct races, and right now I can't remember which one, used use it as an execution device for criminals convicted of Capital offenses. And the way it worked was by literally sucking out your life energies until you were dead."

There were sounds of fear and disgust from all around before someone asked, "And what does that alien torture device have to do with the story?"

"It's what the aliens did with that energy that's the main part of the story," Jenson said.

One of the brighter members of the crew pieced it together. "Oh, God! Are you saying that that thing can give one person's life to another?"

Jenson visibly shivered and nodded. "That's how the aliens executed their criminals. They'd hook them up to one end of that machine and then hook up terminally ill patients to the other end of it. Then that thing would suck the energy out of the healthy prisoner and use it to repair the damage had been done to the patient."

"And somebody brought that nightmare to Babylon 5?" asked one of the astounded crew. No one disbelieved that something like that could exist. They'd seen too much to discount it.

Again, Jenson nodded. "That's what my cousin says. Anyway, according to Davy, that thing had been slated to be destroyed, but because of the war with the Shadows and again with Clark, they kind of forgot about it. So, when Ivanova was mortally injured it was still around."

"Anyway, to make a long story short, once he knew that there was no hope for the Captain through conventional means, Cole stole Ivanova and a White Star, hightailed it back to Babylon 5 and hooked both himself and her into that monstrosity. It saved her life and almost killed him. Until the Doc on the Station could figure out how to undue all the damage that thing did to him, Cole's literally been in cold storage. Well, as we've all seen, he's now healed."

There was a prolonged silence after he was finished with the story. Finally someone spoke up, "My God. That poor fool really must love her."

There were murmurs of agreement from all around. "Yeah, and if what Davy says about the Skipper is true, then all hell is gonna break loose once Lochley's in her sights." The _Titan's_ XO agreed.

When someone asked what he meant, Jenson went on, "Davy said that the Captain almost lost her mind when she woke up and found out what Cole had done. She destroyed the med lab and almost killed herself in the process. Davy said that it took everything the B5 CMO had to talk her down. Even H.Q. scuttlebutt says that she took this command simply to stay sane, that she couldn't stay in the same place where she "killed" her lover."

Jenson shook his head at the apparent cruelty of fate before going on, "Well, Cole's alive and well now, and the Captain has been asked to take Command of the Station again. But first, she's got to take it back from Lochley, and according to everything we've all heard, Lochley's been chasing after her man. And, if the press is to be believed, Lochley also raped her best friend. Now, if that's true, can you all imagine what kind of rage, not to mention fear for Cole, the Skipper's gonna carry around until she knows that he's safely back under her wing?" There were gasps and grimaces all around. "So, knowing our dear CO and what she's capable of, just how smooth of a transition of command do you think we're gonna see once we get to Babylon 5?"

"Aw hell, sir!" someone groaned out.

"Anybody want take odds on how many pieces Lochley will be in when they ship her out?" someone else asked.

There were groans and muttered out profanities from all stations at that point. Then the navigation officer asked if they could jump right after the Captain's shuttle was off. Practically the entire bridge crew seconded the request. No one wanted to be around for THOSE fireworks.

* * *

Contrary to her words, Susan was not working on any reports for H.Q. in her office. Those, thanks to the wolf, had been finished long ago. Susan was currently employing her most effective coping mechanism; vodka – and she didn't give a damn whether she was on duty or not.

As Susan tried to drink her anger at Lochley, her fear for Marcus and her overall pain away, she thought back to when she'd gotten the word from Delenn that both Marcus and John were going to be fine. That Steven had once again proven himself a medical genius and had saved them both. That secured comm. message had unleashed a maelstrom of emotions that Susan had thought died when she'd ordered Marcus to be put in cryo.

All her rage, all her pain and all her fear, everything she'd locked away had been unleashed in that one instant and she'd left her office and run to the ship's gym as if the hounds of Hell were on her heals. Once she'd gotten there, she'd ordered everyone out that then proceeded to destroy the place. Then she'd gone back to her quarters and drunk herself into oblivion.

After waking up with a hangover from the fifteenth Centauri hell, she finally had to face the fact that Marcus was alive, and that he was still in love with her. She'd also had to figure out what she felt for him. Was it guilt? Or gratitude? Or anger at him for trying to throw his life away? Or was it love? Finally, after days of soul searching she knew that it was all of the above. Then she had to figure out if maybe, just maybe, they could try to build an actual relationship. That is, if they could try to build a relationship after she'd kicked his ass for being so utterly stupid in the first place.

That's when their long distance comm. calls to each other started. At first the calls were short and awkward. Then they were long and very loud as Susan tried to tear Marcus apart for almost dying on her. After that, they began to talk, to really talk and to truly get to know each other. And somewhere along the way, they took the tentative first steps toward building a relationship. Oh, they both knew that they had a long way to go in building a healthy, stable relationship, that they both epitomized the words "emotionally dysfunctional". But for the first time in a very, very long time they both had hope.

Then Susan found out about the whole Lochley situation and hit the roof. At first, she hadn't known whether to laugh or cry when the whole scandal involving John broke. She even teased Marcus a bit about how his Lochley issue was mirroring his courtship of her. Then she'd found out what Lochley was really doing to Marcus and it stopped being funny. After she'd talked to Delenn (Who'd taken a White Star into deep space so the call couldn't be listened to or traced by the press and/or Lochley.) again and gotten Delenn's take on the whole first marriage situation as well as Marcus's problems, Susan's temper went into a very dangerous slow simmer and she classified Lochley as a psychotic and dangerous stalker.

Now, after this last call, Susan was starting to think that the Warrior Caste and the press were right and that John really was lying to himself. The desperate look in Marcus's eyes as he begged – literally BEGGED her – to save him from that bitch was twisting her up inside. Her Russian ability to take responsibility for everything that had ever gone wrong was now in full swing and Susan was blaming herself for the scandal involving John as well as Marcus's desperation. After all, in Susan's mind, it was all her fault. If she hadn't run like a coward, then Lochley would never have gotten command of HER Station and none of this would have ever happened.

Now, if it was somebody else going through this self-recrimination, Susan would have logically pointed out to them that Lochley would have gotten command of the Station anyway since that was the only way to keep the peace with Earth. She also would have pointed out that Delenn and Lochley started the other mess, and unless they could have duct taped their respective mouths permanently, there was no way they could have to stopped it. There was also the fact that Susan was nowhere near Vegas Station when the original situation happened in the first place. But, since Susan was using this time to wallow in her own unwarranted guilt, those little facts never crossed her mind.

Susan's alcohol assisted guilt fest was interrupted by her link going off. "Ivanova, go," she abruptly answered.

"Captain, I've got good news and bad news," replied her excited Chief Engineer.

Susan sighed. It was always like this. "Bad news first," she replied.

"Bad news is that I can't get any more power out of the reactors without sending us all to Kingdom Come, Ma'am," he answered.

Susan grunted. She'd figured that was the case. "And the good news is?"

"Thanks to the new sensors, we can take a short cut to Babylon 5. The distortion field in sector fourteen to coming through loud and clear on them and we can use that as our "north star" if you will. Also, the new sensors are twice as accurate in navigating the currents of jump space. Bottom line, for this run, we won't need to navigate by the signal buoys anymore. We can get you home in two days or less, Ma'am!" her chief engineer excitedly answered.

Susan sighed in relief. "Hawkins, I could kiss you!" she cried out.

"Ah… Ah… That…" stuttered out the young man in question.

Susan chuckled at his reaction. "But I won't. You don't need a jealous Ranger that can survive going one on one with the best of the Minbari Warrior Caste coming after you," she teased.

"Ah, thanks, Ma'am. I don't like that idea myself," replied her now nervous engineering genius.

"You know I'm teasing, kid," Susan said, "Now, get to work and send the new navigational information to central navigation and helm. Oh, and as per the aforementioned Ranger, once we get to the Station, you can have whatever your little heart desires. His treat. Ivanova out."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Author: Third Charm

Fandom: Babylon 5

Pairings: Marcus/Susan, Marcus/Neroon, Susan/Neroon, Marcus/Susan/Neroon and Sheridan/Delenn - for now.

Story Type: Drama, Action, Dark Humor, Romance

Current Rating: M

Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income has been made.

Warnings: SO VERY AU and AT and going for broke! WIP, Combat, profanity, slash and dark themes.

Spoilers: You name it; it's in there.

Summary: Marcus is revived almost a year after saving Susan's life into what seems to be a bright future for everyone only to find that an obsessive and politically powerful stalker is after him and that all is not as it seems in the Universe. There are now new and more deadly players in the game of galactic dominance. And heroes long thought dead are once again found in the darkest of circumstances.

Acknowledgments: I must thank ckl for taking the time to beta read this story.

Author's Note: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations.

* * *

Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Chapter Three

Susan had been alone in her quarters when the helm officer had commed her to announce that the latest ETA to Babylon 5 was two hours and counting. After she'd acknowledged the report, the Captain had signed off, sat down at her private desk and had typed out what she hoped would be her last communiqué as an Earth Force Captain. She'd then taken a deep breath and gone to her closet to pull out a suit bag that she'd hidden all the way in the back of the tiny cubicle. Now, it was twenty minutes later and she was still staring at the opened suit bag, trying to get enough courage to take the new yet all too familiar uniform out.

The uniform in question was the Army of Light uniform that Susan had worn all through both the Shadow War and the Earth Alliance Civil War. Well, actually, it was one like it. The original uniform had been ruined beyond repair when that Shadow cursed beam had fallen on her.

This uniform was a replacement that Delenn had had made and sent to her as a remembrance of the wars they had fought and won, as well as all of their old comrades in arms, both fallen and living. At that point in time, the replacement uniform had been an all too painful reminder of all that Susan had lost. When Susan had first received it, she'd almost immediately destroyed it. Luckily for the uniform in question, her inability to face the pain of her loses had staid her hand and for a time Susan had just pretended that "it" didn't exist. In the end though, Susan had kept it as the one last tie to her past. Now, that same uniform seemed to be a harbinger of the future.

This "new" uniform matched the original to a tee. If you didn't know that the original had been ritually burned when they had all thought that Susan was going to die, you would have never known that this one was a replacement. That resemblance along with Susan's grief and guilt were why it had been hidden in the back of her pathetic cubicle of a closet for so long.

Now, this same uniform lay in its suit bag and on the Captain's bed as she, for the thousandth time, mentally reviewed the pros and cons of what she was about to do. Susan sat in her desk chair and pensively stared at the uniform that seemed to represent all that her life and career stood for. To her, the Army of Light uniform stood for many things. It stood for dedication, truth, trust, honor, justice and honesty. This Minbari designed and sewn uniform lying on her bed stood for all the things that she wanted and all the things she believed in; all the things she believed Humanity itself should be.

In contrast, the uniform she now wore was tainted in her mind. It was tainted with betrayal, with greed, with cowardice, with brutality and with all of the other shortcomings of Humanity. And that went without mentioning the facts that Susan thought that the EA uniform was scratchy, itchy and highly uncomfortable in an assortment of other ways - and that was on top of it being just plain ugly! When it came to style and vanity, in Susan's opinion at least, the Army of Light uniform was extremely comfortable as well as "classy" while the Earth Force uniform was highly uncomfortable and made her look like a boxy robot.

The Captain was pulled out of her musings by her comm. link going off again. Susan sighed as she activated her link. "Ivanova, go," she replied.

"We're in a half an hour of the Babylon 5 jump gate, Ma'am," Jenson answered.

Susan raised an eyebrow at that statement. "What happened to ETA to B5 being two hours and counting?"

Jenson chuckled. "Hawkins and Curtis happened, Ma'am. Those two kids have to be the ultimate geniuses of the entire Fleet. They managed to not only recalibrate the new sensors to read real space gravimetric anomalies while still in jump space and to extend the sensor array range to two and a half times the new norms, but those two tech geeks also managed to extrapolate two new jump space corridors - AND their connecting routes to the old one - for this sector just from the preliminary readings of the new arrays!"

Now Susan WAS impressed. It normally took the exploratory and navigation teams in the Fleet, and even IPX, weeks of calculating routes and running simulations before they could do what these two young men had done in a day and a half. In Susan's mind, these two young men deserved so much more than what Earth Force would ever offer them.

The Captain was now convinced that after the report of this mission reached H.Q. and she had left, some bastard with political connections would get his hands on them. Then said bastard would exploit them for all they were worth, while taking credit for all of their work. He or she would then destroy their careers once they were no longer useful or put up a fight against him or her. Well, if she had anything to do with a the situation, that would NOT happen! Oh no, not on her watch! In order to protect these two "kids" from the vipers of Earth Force, Susan knew that she would have to "pull a Garibaldi" as it were.

Susan swallowed an irritated growl before she gave her orders. "Jenson, tell those boys that they are going to be with me on the first shuttle to B5. Tell those two that the Captain wants to personally congratulate them on a job well done as well as to order shore leave rites to both of them for the duration of our stay at Babylon 5. Besides, there's a Ranger on that Station that'll want to thank them personally. Also, tell the crew that I've amended our course and route orders to incorporate a two Standard week stay in the system in order to allow the entire crew to take some R&R on Babylon 5."

Susan could hear the surprise in her XO's voice as he acknowledged the order with a hearty, "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!'

The Captain cringed inwardly at the surprise in her XO's voice. Had she been truly THAT much of a bitch towards her crew that even her Executive Officer believed that she wouldn't allow the crew shore leave after them not seeing civilization for nearly a year? Susan groaned inwardly while admitting that, at least in her crew's eyes, she must have been.

Apparently, the Babylon 5 version of command did not mesh well with the Earth Force version of it. A Captain apparently couldn't expect her crew to be performing their duties expertly and demanding professional military discipline of said crew while still understanding their psychological and emotional needs. Susan her shook her head and sighed. Even after all this time, Earth Force stupidity could still amaze her. If she went by Jensen's reaction, of course she had been the "Ultimate Bitch". Susan knew at that moment that her choice was the right one. She no longer fit into the Earth Force mold.

"We've been in deep space for nearly a Standard year and patrolling without a break, Jensen. This was supposed to be a three-month shakedown cruise for this bucket, not an extended surveillance and patrol mission! But, of course, Murphy just had to strike and the brass decided to screw us all at the last minute. You know as well as I do that we were never outfitted for an extended mission and that the supply ships have been few and far between."

"According to the quartermaster, we are low on everything. That in of itself is bad news, but add in the fact that the crew is going stir crazy and you've got a recipe for disaster! And need I remind of the fact that the _Titan_ needs her long overdue refit quite badly?" Susan growled out in exasperation since she'd expected better at least from her XO.

There was a sheepish, "Ah, that's all true, Ma'am," from Jensen after she was done with her tirade.

Susan merely growled in affirmation before giving her orders. "Since I will be taking Command of the Station, believe you me, I'll put you at the top of the docket for everything," Susan replied as she typed several sets of new orders as she spoke.

Again Jensen replied with an enthusiastic, "Ma'am, yes Ma'am!"

"Glad you're happy about the orders, now patch me trough to the Station. I need to update their XO on a few things as well as our new ETA," Susan said with as her eyes began to sparkle and a devilish smirk played on her lips.

"Of course, Captain," Jenson said as he signed off.

Susan had heard the smirk in his voice as her XO had affirmed his orders. She shook her head and chuckled at what was about to happen. The communications officer was going to tap into her comm. signal again, she was sure of it. Well, the "gits", as Marcus would say, under her command were in for a Babylon 5 special!

It was finally time to terrorize the _Titan's_ crew a bit. They had been having the time of their lives by listening into most her comm. calls as well as reading certain pieces of her mail since the whole hullabaloo had started. She hadn't done anything about it since she knew exactly what kind of stress they were under due to the brasses' little fuck-up.

Susan had allowed a great deal of "unprofessional behavior" to officially go unnoticed due to morale issues. During the last two wars, the entire Command Council of Babylon 5 had found out just how important morale had been to all of their forces. Because of that hard-learned lesson, no matter how traumatized, depressed or angry she was, Susan had tried to maintain her new ship crew's spirits. They had never even figured out that was what was really going on.

She'd pretended not to know what had been going on until yesterday and had even put a few of her own bets (anonymously of course) in the ship-wide pool as just what kind of "reception" she would get once they reached the Station in order to up the stakes as well as to add some "real" credits to the pot. Her bets were of course truly absurd and would never win. The money was for some lucky schmuck in her crew. The good Lord knew that everyone of them needed it after the pay freezes they'd had to put up with under Clark. Susan snorted to herself. What was the point to having a ship-wide betting pool if the pot was only six hundred credits?

Well, the morale and performance levels of these folks were no longer her concern. Her tour of duty in Command of the _Titan_ was almost done and it was time for some Ivanova payback! Well, Ivanova payback ala Cole; Susan had mellowed a bit in the last few months. She was to the point where she could actually choose to implement non-violent reprisals now.

Susan chortled to herself in glee as the comm. screen on her desk chimed and activated. After making sure that she had her most professional mask on, Susan answered in her customary manor. The Comm. Officer then patched the call from B5's C&C through and it was time for the show to begin.

"Commander Corwin, it's good to talk to you again," Susan opened the conversation in her most professional manor.

"Likewise, Captain. I hear that a pair of geniuses are getting you home in about a half an hour," a smiling and as unflappable as always Corwin answered.

Susan smiled and inclined her head while giving Corwin their old "I'm about to con the hell out of the bastard so back me up or I'll rip your lungs out" signal. The newly promoted ISA Commander immediately knew that Susan was up to something, especially from the evil gleam in her eyes. To the _Titan's_ ship-wide gossipmongers, the signal would look like nothing more than a miniscule, and harmless, eye twitch. On the other hand, to Corwin, who'd worked hand-in-glove with Susan for years, it was an extremely loud signal that a bunch of bull was about to be flung around. Corwin was thankful that he'd made this call from his private office and not C&C as he considered his options. The young Commander decided that playing along would be in his best interest since Comm -- Captain Ivanova was going to be his Commanding Officer - again. Besides, he felt like getting one over on the _Titan's _Earth Force crew as well; especially her XO, whom he still owed a few from their childhood days.

"That they are, Commander, that they are. Could you please make sure that they get the V.I.P treatment during their R&R stay on the Station?" Susan asked in a way that everyone listening in knew it was really an order.

"Of course, Ma'am. Do you need anything else taken care of in regards to the _Titan_ and/or her crew?" Corwin replied in his most professional manor.

Susan chuckled. "You can still read my mind, can't you David?"

And this was where Corwin knew that the mischief was now afoot. Ivanova NEVER called him by his first name. Well, accept for once. That had been when she had been trying to feel out whether or not he would be loyal to the Command Staff if they broke away from Clark's regime.

Even through the mild shock, Corwin was able to maintain his unperturbed demeanor as Susan went on. After all, he'd served through the wars with the Shadows and Clark, having had Sinclair, Sheridan and Ivanova as his COs and was now dealing with the "Whore of Babylon" on a daily basis. This little con job was nothing in comparison!

"You're right, I will be needing a few things done for the ship and crew. First and foremost, the _Titan_ hasn't had her post-shakedown overhaul as scheduled. We went from shakedown to patrol immediately. I need the _Titan_ bumped to the top of the maintenance schedule as well as some of the old hands to help out with the work, you know which engineering crews I'm talking about." Susan said while yet again giving Corwin a little signal.

Corwin nodded while his mind whirled. So all the rumors were true after all. The Warlock Class destroyers really did incorporate reverse engineered Shadow technology! He'd best get on the horn with Marcus to have a few of his folks pose as engineers for this job. The ISA would need to have this piece of intell confirmed. Corwin then mentally winced. President Sheridan was going to have several litters of kittens when that little confirmation reached him!

"Also, I need to have the entire crew rotated onto the Station of some R&R. These folks haven't seen civilization in nearly a year and they'll go stir crazy if they don't get some time off," Susan finished.

Corwin nodded. "Of course, Captain. I'll get the _Titan_ bumped up in the maintenance and engineering queue ASAP. As for the R&R, we figured your folks would be in need of it, so we've got the guest quarters already squared away as well. Everything will be ready by the time you make the gate, Captain."

Susan chuckled while gently shaking her head. "You're still my miracle worker, aren't you?"

Corwin nonchalantly inclined his head. "I'm just doing my job, Ma'am."

"And as flawlessly as always. You could find anything we needed during the wars, no matter how hard it was. There were times I thought that the Station would fall apart without your ability to scrounge," Susan replied with another chuckle while Corwin fought to keep his nonchalance in place. Even during a con job, Ivanova had never handed out praise like that before!

Then Susan let her expression grow softer; more feminine and softly said, "And you could always find the best roses."

Corwin's expression went form studied nonchalance to pensive in a heartbeat. He felt as if he'd been hit by a two-by-four! Oh, Lord! The Captain knew that the roses had been left by him – and was now even using them in this con job! What the... Corwin swallowed hard. Oh, she wouldn't! Would she?

"David, I…" Susan let the comment die while literally staring at Corwin and biting her lip.

And there went today's "BOOM". Corwin groaned mentally. Yes, apparently she would. Well, as Marcus would say, in for a penny, in for a pound. And, since no matter what he did or said, he knew that it would come back to haunt him, Corwin decided that he might as well play it up.

Corwin smiled softly and consolingly at his soon-to-be CO and gently said, "It's alright, Susan. I never had a problem with you being my CO back in the day. And I won't have a problem with it now. We both always knew that we were the so-called "rebound relationship" for the other. Besides, I told Cole that the best man had won and meant it before he'd left with the Doc for the first mission to Mars. I won't get in your way."

Susan was internally laughing like a hyena on Dust. Oh, but could Corwin lay it on thick! This went even better than she had planned!

Susan pasted a relieved smile on her face went for the coup de grace, "I know, I just had to make sure. Thank you for everything, David. Friends and comrades still?"

Corwin smiled a natural and rather winsome smile before replying, "Friends and comrades always. I'll be there with Zack and Marcus to welcome you home, Susan. Corwin out."


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Author: Third Charm

Fandom: Babylon 5

Pairings: Marcus/Susan, Marcus/Neroon, Susan/Neroon, Marcus/Susan/Neroon and Sheridan/Delenn - for now.

Story Type: Drama, Action, Dark Humor, Romance

Current Rating: M

Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income has been made.

Warnings: SO VERY AU and AT and going for broke! WIP, Combat, profanity, slash and dark themes.

Spoilers: You name it; it's in there.

Summary: Marcus is revived almost a year after saving Susan's life into what seems to be a bright future for everyone only to find that an obsessive and politically powerful stalker is after him and that all is not as it seems in the Universe. There are now new and more deadly players in the game of galactic dominance. And heroes long thought dead are once again found in the darkest of circumstances.

Acknowledgments: I must thank ckl for taking the time to beta read this story.

Author's Note: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations.

* * *

Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Chapter Four

It had been a nerve racking two days for Marcus as he waited for the _Titan_ to make the jump gate. He'd taken Susan's advice and holed up in his quarters ever since her call. The Ranger had proceeded to both live and work in his quarters and had called in a few personal favors from of some of the Rangers on the Station in order to always have someone stay with him round the clock. He'd made it a personal issue since he didn't feel right, newly promoted Chief Station Ranger or not, in ordering his old friends and comrades in arms to guard him. Marcus was also a bit embarrassed as to why he needed the guards to begin with and felt that he'd be insulting the Rangers as a whole if he made it an official order. He'd even made sure to have what meals he didn't cook, make that defrost, since even Marcus would admit his cooking was bad enough to qualify as a biohazard, delivered by either one of his Rangers friends or his new aide, who'd arrived from Tuzanor right after Marcus had finished his comm. call with Susan. The new aide came with strict orders, from Sheridan himself mind you, to keep a close watch on Marcus. The young Minbari had also brought the news of Marcus's promotion.

The arrival of the young Minbari Ranger had been quite a shock, though a welcome one, to Marcus and he had completely forgotten to call Zack as he and his new aide, Te'Khat, worked out what were to be Marcus's new duties, Te'Khat's duties, and what they laughingly termed as the "post-Lochley" schedule. This bit of forgetfulness on Marcus's hadn't been a problem though, since Zack hadn't even needed to be called. The man had just showed up at Marcus's door that evening and volunteered to be put in the rotation of "bodyguards". Marcus had just shaken his head and wondered if the almost mystical ability to know everything going on with the Station was an ability that a Station Security Chief had to be born with or if it could be taught since Michael had had it as well and then had calmly worked his old friend into the schedule.

All in all, Susan's plan had worked like a charm. Between having all his calls screened by his young, imposing and rather fierce looking Warrior Caste-born aide (for whom Marcus would get down on his knees in gratitude before John the next time he saw him), never leaving his quarters, which were guarded both from within and without and that lovely auto-lock, Marcus hadn't seen hide or hair of his stalker since that horrid "run-in" in the Zocalo right before Susan's call.

It had also helped a great deal that the old League Ambassadors and Command crew had kept Lochley bogged down with mountains of paperwork and meetings, needless paperwork and meetings in most of the cases, in regards to the hand-over of the Station's Command as well. From the reports Marcus had gotten, they were all basically driving Lochley even further round the bend and enjoying themselves immensely while doing so. Babylon 5's Chief Station Ranger was extremely amused at their antics as well as truly grateful to all of the old guard for running interference for him and hade made a mental note to make sure that proper thank you cards and gifts were sent out when the whole ordeal was over.

The last two days had brought Marcus a blessed respite, and he used the peaceful time wisely. The newly minted _Shok'Na_ (Ranger Captain) used the time to ease into the paperwork that unfortunately came with his brand new rank and to get to know his new aide, who'd already proved himself invaluable to Marcus by heading off Lochley at the pass the one time she'd tried to visit Marcus by using a so-called "Ranger issue" as an excuse. Marcus had watched the Warrior-born Ranger literally run Lochley off with just his glower and again thanked God and Valen that John had chosen so well. Marcus and Te'Khat had also used the time to get the Rangers ready to formally greet Susan since both Delenn and they thought it proper. Marcus had even used the times Zack was over to coordinate the Rangers' duties with the Stations Security Officers' duties so that neither force was overburdened by everyday security concerns and all levels of the Station, even Down-Below, Babylon 5's "slums" for lack of a better word, were properly patrolled.

These new "policing duties" were duties that normally the Rangers didn't help with, but with Marcus now in charge of the Station's contingent and his need to help those society had forgotten, he'd changed the rules and figured he'd rather ask for forgiveness then for permission on this issue. Besides, he was also coordinating the intelligence gathering work with both Garibaldi and his people and Byron and his telepaths. With those two groups taking up the intell slack, it had freed a few of his Rangers for a more domestic type of work and Zack had been pathetically grateful for the extra manpower. During one of Zack's visits, he'd gleefully commented on the rapid drop in the petty crime rate on the Station just from the news about the joint policing alone. The Security Chief told Marcus how easy it had been to quell a potential "situation" in the Zocalo that day with the Rangers around. He'd even added just how much his patrolling officers loved the idea of being partnered with a Minbari Ranger, especially a Warrior-born Ranger, because of the added "intimidation factor".

That said; it had been sheer coincidence that Corwin had called Marcus during Zack's "duty shift". Since both had needed to decompress a bit, Marcus and Zack had decided to "play hooky" from their respective paperwork and had been playing a game of bridge in Marcus's quarters while the now ever-present Te'Khat had been going over the Stations Rangers' duty rosters when Corwin had called them to them that the Titan's ETA had been moved up. Both the Chief Station Ranger and Station Security Chief were ecstatic to hear the news. Marcus had also been truly impressed with Susan's engineering crew. He was sure that even the Minbari Worker Caste-born Rangers he'd worked with couldn't ever do as well. So, while he was promising Corwin that he'd make the young men's R&R on B5 the best they'd ever had, the Ranger was making plans to woo the two young geniuses away from Earth Force and to the Rangers.

Things got a bit heated when Corwin gave them a heads up as to what to expect in regards to the _Titan_ and her sister ships. At that news, Zack proceeded to introduce both Corwin, Te'Khat and Marcus to a whole new level of Standard profanity and then a just as angry Marcus translated it to _Lenn'ah _(the Minbari Warrior Caste language) for Zack and David, much to the eavesdropping Te'Khat's embarrassment. Then the bets on whether or not the evidence of Sheridan's reaction to the news would be visible on the Station even though he was on Minbar were placed. At Te'Khat's confused expression during the round of jesting, Marcus reminded the young Ranger that Sheridan wasn't called "the Star Killer" for nothing. He then warned his aide that yes, Sheridan did indeed possess a temper to be feared, slow though it was to rear. Finally, after all the jokes had been set aside, Te'Khat had been introduced to a bit of Station gossip, and the when the security and intelligence issues involved with the _Titan's_ maintenance work were finally taken care of, Corwin had taken a deep breadth and then dropped the final bomb on the two unsuspecting old hands and one now completely confused new aide.

"Susan did what?" Marcus asked in astonishment as both he and Zack stared at Corwin through the BabCom screen.

Corwin chuckled at the identical dumbfounded and slack-jawed expressions on his two friends faces. "You here me right the first time around, Cole," he said.

"But… but why in the name of God would Susan want her old crew to think that you and she... I mean her and you… Oh, bugger it! You know what I mean. Why in bloody Hell would she let them think that she would ever be so unprofessional as to have an affair with her Second?" Marcus asked, still bowled over by what Corwin had said.

"Bloody, buggering hell, David, it's bound to turn into a Charlie Foxtrot once that piece of bull hits the grapevine! Earth Dome, not to mention ISN, is bound to raise a gigantic stink over that kind of impropriety! God in Heaven, the last thing we need is another scandal. What in Hell was she thinking?" he practically shouted out in frustration.

Corwin shook his head at the Ranger's comments. "Marcus, I know you're brighter than this! Think about it! If I could figure this out, so can you."

After seeing the combination of anger and confusion on the silent Ranger's face, Corwin sighed and explained, "Come on Marcus, you were EFI and are one of the best Rangers out there. You damn well know that it's a damn good con job that'll be giving the _Titan's_ whole crew fits for weeks. Which in turn will distract them from just how nosy our tech crews are being during the _Titan's_ stay in our dry-docks. By them time they figure it out, IF they ever figure it out, we'll have all the information on the _Warlock Class_ destroyers we need." Corwin smirked as he added, "And that's without mentioning the fact that it'll give her judgmental and uptight XO a coronary. God, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall when he'd heard it!" Corwin chuckled at the mental picture that his own statement had brought on.

"Excuse me, but what does the _Titan's_ XO have to do with this, and just how do you know him?" Zack asked, sidetracked by the show of derision, well derision not aimed at Lochley, from the normally respectful and friendly Corwin.

Corwin gave a disgusted snort before dryly replying, "Every family has the cousin who's the rulebook thumping goody two-shoes with the stick crammed so far up their behind that you wonder how they can ever sit down; well guys, dear "jerky Jenson" is my family's. I despise the self-righteous bastard, but have always pretended to somewhat get along with him because every once in a while he passes on decent intell by way of gossip and rumor. Unfortunately, I've had to reciprocate every once in a while with something juicy and confirmable in order to keep the act going - and you don't know just how much that sticks in my craw!"

Both Zack and Marcus had had similar experiences and commiserated about them with the young Commander before Corwin went on. "To get back on track here, two, we all damn well know just how much Susan loves making everyone second guess her. We also all know how she loves play that up along with both her temper and her unpredictability. Besides, if I know her, she's also probably doing this in order to take some of the media heat off of President Sheridan and _Entil'Zha_ Delenn. She's just as worried about them and the baby as the rest of us are."

"And three, if they all think that most of the Station is in love with her, or was at one time or another, then they'll believe that there won't be any way for them to undermine her command of the Station and the crew's loyalty to her, AND they'll pass that bit of scuttlebutt back to Earth Force HQ to boot. Susan's got to love just how much that's going to stick in their craw."

Corwin again took a bit of a break to get a chuckle in before adding, "And just think of what our dear exiting Captain's reaction is going to be to that bit of scuttlebutt when she hears it. I mean, think of it from the Bitch's perspective; the beloved former Commander and now incoming Captain Ivanova now has at least romantic five conquests to her name on Babylon Five if rumors are to be believed. The Drazi worship her as a Goddess and the rest of the old League Ambassadors both fear and respect her. Compare that with Lochley being both a social and political pariah on this Station that isn't welcome anywhere but her office and wherever those damned EA scabs hang out. And, of course, we can add to that the verifiable fact that she hasn't even gotten one single nibble romantically her entire time here. Oh, but it's going to just burn the Bitch! All in all, it's an Ivanova work of art! And best of all, it's a true Ivonova work of art minus the violence, blood, bodies and explosions!" Corwin finished with a rather evil little smirk. All the men laughed heartily at that statement, even Te'Khat, who'd heard the stories of the "formidable Ivanova" (her speech before her final battle in the EA Civil War had become legend on Minbar) both in the Warrior and Ranger training salles and had also developed quite a loathing of Lochley after his one face to face meeting with her.

Zack then turned to Marcus and teasingly gasped out, "No violence? Oh, my God, Marcus! You've done the impossible; you've tamed the Russian Iron Maiden!"

The Ranger in question blushed scarlet and sputtered incoherently while the others got another good laugh at his expense in. It was a while before Zack sobered enough to add another of his two cents in. "O.K. David, I'll give you that. It's a damn good diversionary tactic as well as revenge on the new Skipper's part, but you and she both got to remember that she's still Earth Force. There'll be hell to pay for this boondoggle once word of it gets back to HQ," he said with a shake of his head.

Corwin smiled a slow and devious little smile before saying, "Oh, I somehow don't think that's going to be an issue. She hasn't said anything to me, but guys, I really think that we're getting OUR Susan back!"

Marcus smiled a brilliant smile before asking, "You don't mean what I think you mean? Do you?"

An equally radiant Commander answered, "Yes I most certainly do! And I'm pretty positive she'll be coming in ISA to boot. Marcus, she had that look, that really determined look in her eyes; you know the one that makes even Minbari Warriors run for cover, when I talked to her last. And it makes me believe that that's another reason why she did this. It's her final "F off" to the Earth Force brass."

Zack snorted before saying, "Yep, you're right. That would be pure Ivanova; giving them the "flying V" on her way out."

Marcus shook his head, chuckled and added, "Let it not be said that Susan ever left an unburned bridge behind her!"

"Exactly!" Corwin said with relish. "Now, considering that her whole damn crew's probably been treating as badly as possible without being insubordinate, I think we aught to greet her with full ISA fanfare. I have everything ready for all the Babylon 5 Command Staff pomp and circumstance and Vir and Na'Toth have had the ISA Assembly stuff organized for days."

Te'Khat spoke up then. "The Station _Anla'Shok_ are ready as well. _Entil'Zha _anticipated such a welcome and had ordered _Shok'Na_ Cole and myself to complete the preparations," he said with a nod towards the screen.

Corwin simply beamed at the news. "That's great!" he enthused. "Now, how about we personalize it just a bit?" he asked before laying out his plan to the again chuckling men who readily agreed before signing off and leaving to prepare everything for the new Captain's immanent arrival.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Author: Third CharmFandom: Babylon 5

Pairings: Marcus/Susan, Marcus/Neroon, Susan/Neroon, Marcus/Susan/Neroon and Sheridan/Delenn.

Story Type: Drama, Action, Dark Humor, Romance

Current Rating: M

Disclaimer: Babylon 5 and all subsequent major characters, plots, and ideas are the property of J. Michael Straczynski, Babylonian Inc. and Warner Brothers. The following story was written only for the purposes of entertainment. No income has been made.

Warnings: SO VERY, VERY AU and AT and going for broke! WIP, Combat, profanity, slash and dark themes.

Chapter Warnings: This chapter has not been beta read due to the fact that my poor beta is completely and utterly overwhelmed by real life at the moment, and I do NOT wish to add to her stress level. A beta read version of the chapter probably will be substituted for the current one at a later date.

Spoilers: You name it; it's in there.

Summary: Marcus is revived almost a year after saving Susan's life into what seems to be a bright future for everyone, only to find that an obsessive and politically powerful stalker is after him and that all is not as it seems in the Universe. There are now new and more deadly players in the game of galactic dominance. And heroes long thought dead are once again found in the darkest of circumstances.

Acknowledgments: I must thank ckl for taking the time to beta read this story.

Author's Note: One Earth year equals 0.74 Minbari cycles. The Minbari words and phrases were found at the "JumpNow" website in John Hightower's Minbari dictionary, though not all are direct translations. As for the musical choice for Susan's "Triumphal March" back onto the Station, well blame that one on the members of the Delusions Yahoo Group. That particular song was the one that received to most votes in the poll.

* * *

Remembrance, Resurrection and Renewal

Chapter Five

Susan nervously smoothed non-existent wrinkles out of her new uniform as she waited for the lift to reach the hanger deck. She chuckled to herself as she thought of her last comm. call with Jensen. Good Lord, but even Vir at his worst had never stuttered that much! And the look on his face; it was priceless! If that had been the reaction of her repressed XO, she could just imagine her poor, green crew's reaction – let alone what those bastards at HQ would think! Ivanova shook her head and chuckled again as the lift came to a stop. Even if her plan didn't come to full fruition and the _Titan's_ XO's near coronary was the only thing that came out of her and Corwin's little act, it would still be well worth it!

"Captain on deck!" came the barked out order as the lift doors opened. The unmistakable sounds Earth Force personnel coming to attention immediately followed this age-old navel command.

Susan stepped out of the lift and into the corridor leading to the shuttle bay of the _Titan _only to come to a dead stop and look around in shock. Her crew, all but the essential on duty personnel, had assembled to send her off in all Earth Force pomp and circumstance. They were all dressed in their Dress Blues and lined up, standing two deep on either side of the long corridor leading to the shuttle bay. The _Titan's_ crew was forming an honor guard for their exiting Captain.

Ivanova had never though that they would do such a thing for her. Not only had she been positive that they all thought her to be a cold hearted bitch, but wasn't she also the "traitor" to Earth and Earth Force that had only been accepted back due to Sheridan's final "blackmail" of the Earth Force brass in their collective estimation? Well, then again, maybe not. Not from the looks of it. Susan now felt rather guilty for changing her uniform so early, for she was sure that these young soldiers would see what she was wearing as her parting insult to them in particular and all of Earth Force in general.

Her crew, once those that could catch sight of her had, stared back at her in equal shock and their collective reaction to her uniform was just as Susan had suspected it would be. They had expected to send off an Earth Force Captain dressed in Earth Force Navy Dress Blues. Unfortunately for them, what they saw on their Captain definitely were NOT Earth Force Navy Dress Blues. What they saw their Captain wearing was a uniform that they considered to be a uniform of traitors.

Captain Susan Ivanova was wearing the uniform of the old breakaway Babylon 5 Officers. She wore the uniform of what she and her then comrades had called the "Army of Light". And to top it all off, the Russian Iron Maiden was actually wearing cosmetics and had her hair styled in loose, flowing and very, by Earth Force standards at least, "unprofessional" manor! Why, she looked more like her old alter ego, "The Voice of the Resistance", than the Earth Force Captain they had known – and FEARED - for almost a year!

"Captain?" came the tentative question from her First Officer as he stepped forward from his position on the right side of the lift.

Susan shook her head and sighed wearily. "I'm sorry, Jenson. This is my fault. I should have warned you at least, but I wasn't expecting…" Susan broke off the statement and gestured nervously to the honor guard, "I wasn't expecting anything like this!" she practically cried out.

Susan then muttered a few choice Russian profanities while running a frustrated hand through her loose hair. The crew had never seen her so rattled. Angry, oh yes. Severely pissed off, DIFINATELY yes. And lately, even happy and flirtatious, but NEVER rattled, and they were justifiably getting rather nervous at their Captain's obvious distress.

Finally, after giving her assembled crew a good scare, Susan got her frustrations under control. "Alright, folks! Listen up!" she barked out and again her well-trained crew came to full attention as she went on. "Oh, Jensen, have my link patched through the ship-wide comm. It's time I made a few things clear and give my exiting speech as well."

"Aye, Ma'am," replied the XO before carrying out her orders.

When Jensen nodded to her, Susan took a breath and began her speech, "Attention, this is the Captain speaking. It is time for me to leave the _Titan_ for Babylon 5, and therefore, it's time for me to follow our long held Earth Force traditions and make an complete ass of myself with an exiting speech." Susan had to wait for the chuckles to die down before going on.

"Now, As all of the crew assembled here can see, and will undoubtedly later tell all of you who aren't, I am not wearing an Earth Force uniform, that I am wearing my, uh, "old" Independent Babylon 5 uniform. And as most of you can guess from the change of clothing, yes, I have indeed resigned my commission from Earth Force. Now, this decision had nothing to do with my experiences with any of you or the _Titan_. This ship is a damned fine ship and you're a damned fine crew. I can honestly say that this Command helped to save my sanity after everything that happened with the Shadows and then with Clark. To be honest, you folks deserved a better Captain than the one you've put up with for the last year, especially after getting shafted by HQ like you have your first time out as a crew."

"That said, I think that you as a crew are entitled some explanations before I leave. So, here goes. Item one; I have resigned my commission as a Captain in Earth Force because I have come to realize that my style of command no longer fits with what Earth Force expects of it's Captains. Item two; I am still human and still a child of Earth and will ALWAYS be Russian, but, again, I have come realize that my home now is a certain space station that I'm returning to. And last but not least, item three; I have also come to realize that I'm really not cut out for the political aspect of being a Captain in Earth Force. Now don't get me wrong, I can command a crew as well as anyone else, just not _the Earth Force's Brass's _way, and I just CAN"T schmooze as well as everyone else involved with HQ. And that means that my ship and crew will never get the plum assignments. That also means that my crew and their careers will suffer for my political inadequacies. Case in point, what you've all gone through in the last year. Therefore, I'm resigning now before I manage to F up the careers of any more of you poor slobs," Susan explained.

Almost as an afterthought, Susan said, "And besides, I somehow think that HQ would really get their collective panties in a bunch over the idea of having one of their Captains involved with an ISA Ranger." Susan had to wait a bit for the chuckles of the braver members of the _Titan's_ to die down before going on.

"I'm sure that no matter where they turned, they'd see a huge sign, flashing in ten-foot high neon red letters, that oh so incriminating term, "Conflict of Interest". So, since I've learned my lesson – the HARD way – about putting my career before personal happiness, and I'm not going to be changing the parameters of my private life just to suit the brass any time soon, I figured that I should get going while the getting was good. And there's also the fact that they might object to the way I plan to clean up the Station's little "problem" when I get there, she finished with a particularly vicious look in her eyes a rather feral edge to her voice.

There were a great many winces, chuckles, understanding nods and murmurs of agreement from the _Titan's_ crew at her closing statement. The "true" and "pseudo-classified" story, ala Jensen, of Marcus Cole's sacrifice in order to save the life of the Captain, his subsequent coma and then cryogenic preservation had made the rounds of the ship-wide gossip mill at record speed. After the story became "public" knowledge, a great many things about their Captain's previously cold behavior began to make sense.

Also, after seeing the "Ice Queen" Ivanova start to thaw out a bit, not one of the crew could blame her for grabbing at this miraculous second chance with both hands - and that's without mentioning the fact that they all knew that she wanted revenge for what Lochley had supposedly put her best friend and her lover through! Besides, after most of the crew had witnessed the Captain personally "clean up" a nasty bar brawl on between them and the old Clark-aligned crew on Jupiter Station before they had shipped out, some – and that was a VERY small minority of the crew – were even feeling just a tad bit sorry for the monumentally stupid bitch that had given them and the rest of Earth Force its latest political and PR black eye.

"Alright, I think that about covers my explanations as well as the traditional self-humiliation of the exiting Captain. Now, on to a topic of much more interest to all of you, as one of my last acts as your Captain, I've amended the _Titan's _course and route orders to incorporate a two Standard week stay in system in order to allow the entire crew to take some R&R on Babylon 5." This time Susan had to wait a full five minutes for the raucous cheering to die down.

"You've all been one hell of a Command. Keep up the good work and good bye and good luck to all of you," Susan said into her link before switching it off. Then she turned her attention to the assembled crew and called out, "Lieutenants Hawkins and Curtis; front and center!"

The two young engineers smartly stepped forward as ordered. Their youth and inexperience showed. Susan winced at their innocent and exuberant expressions; expressions that they obviously thought were militarily correct blank masks. She didn't think that she had ever seen anyone look so innocent since she was a very young child.

The Captain shook her head and muttered to herself as she remembered why. She and her age mates, as well as those years closely following, had all been molded by the trauma of the War. And that went without mentioning the poor bastards in the age group before them that had actually fought in and survived it! Now, these two kids, well almost all of this crew, were too young to clearly remember that hell, nor had they been truly impacted by the Shadows or any of the colonies' rebellions against Clark. They were just too green for the war hardened Captain's tastes!

"_Oh Lord! I better have a Ranger stick to these two like glue on B5 or the locals will eat them for lunch! For that matter, I'd better have ALL of this crew looked after_," Susan thought to herself as she stood in front of the two young men.

Susan pulled herself out of her musings, and with a mischievous smile brought on by the fact that she was absolutely POSITIVE that at least Marcus would do something completely and utterly outlandish the minute she set foot on the Station, she addressed the two fresh-faced junior officers before her, "Well, gents, since you are the heroes of the hour, you two have earned yourself the dubious honor of being part my so-called "honor guard". So boys – and that includes you too, Jensen – fall in! And don't worry about that nasty 'ole Russian temper of mine. I promise won't bite - much!" And with that statement, Susan Ivanova, the previously most feared Captain in the entire Earth Force fleet, left her first true Command for the only place, and person, her heart and soul could truly call home.

The doors of the shuttle opened and Susan and her escorts stepped out of the shuttle and into the shuttle-docking bay that has been set aside particularly for formally greeting the Station's new Captain. And that's when it happened. That's when the Captain's honor guard from the _Titan_ got the first of the soon to be MANY B5 induced shocks to their systems, the worst of which would delivered that very hour.

Oh, it wasn't the sight that greeted them that almost sent their collective pulmonary systems into a tailspin. Oh no, not at all! THAT was pretty much what they had expected. It was the type of fanfare anyone would expect for the return of a "home town hero", or in this particular case, "heroine".

There were the unfurled Independent Babylon 5, _Anla'Shok_ and ISA banners hanging from the rafters. There was the standard honor guard, well not completely standard since they alternated Station Security and _Anla'Shok_ personnel, standing at attention with weapons drawn in salute on either side of the literally rolled out read carpet. There were all the dignitaries and ambassadors from all the ISA worlds waiting behind the B5 Command Staff plus a certain Ranger _Shok'Na_ and his aide that was waiting for there new Captain at the end of the red Carpet.

All of that they more or less expected. No, what got the poor _Titan's _crew members was the music with which the incoming Captain was greeted. It wasn't the Earth Alliance anthem, which considering the political situation of the Station, they really weren't expecting anyway. It wasn't the new ISA's Anthem either, which they really were expecting, since the still independent Station didn't have one of its own that they knew of. It wasn't even anything Minbari that they could have attributed to the now ISA aligned Rangers.

Oh no, the music was human in origin all right. It just WHAT type of music that was and which SONG that was now playing that had almost given the_ Titan's_ honor guard a collective coronary. The musical genre was what was called "Twenty-first Century Popular Rock-n-Roll". That fact in and of it self wasn't what was so shocking. It was the SONG that was. The particular song that was playing was "Bitch" by Merideth Brooks! And THEN there was their old Captain's reaction to it!

Susan Ivanova, whom they had all thought was Captain "by the book" herself, had thrown head back and laughed in abandon when she recognized the opening strains of the song. THEN she had simply said, "Oh, my boys know me so well!" while still chuckling and made her way down the improvised red carpeted isle in what could only be described as a catwalk strut! Leaving them, her poor, shocked, embarrassed and overwhelmed old crew members to do nothing more than try to not trip on their own feet as they dumbly followed behind.

When the Captain and her escorts had reached the Station's waiting Command Staff and the song had ended, the poor Earth Force officers thought that some semblance of normalcy would now take over. They watched in wary relief as the Captain was greeted with all proper military circumstance. There were crisp, formal military salutes by the still mostly grinning Command Staff. Even the apoplectic looking Lochley crisply saluted her replacement, though it looked as if she would rather kill her soon-to-be former Staff at the moment. There were Formal Minbari Bows of Greeting by the two Rangers in the group, which the Human one of the two had accompanied with a saucy wink and thereby identifying himself as the much talked about Ranger in possession of the Captain's affections. They were all breathing quiet sighs of relief and thinking that they were finally in the clear. They were about to be sorely disappointed.

As protocol demanded, Captain Lochley stepped forward to greet her replacement. Just as she opened her mouth to address Ivanova, her jaw met with the right cross from Hell. Needless to say, Lochley went down like a sack of potatoes. One seriously pissed off Right Hand of Vengeance immediately hauled the barely conscious woman back up onto her unsteady feet. The look on "Her" face immediately sent the Drazi contingent into fervors of religious genuflection. The Goddess of Babylon 5 was back – and "Her" will WOULD BE DONE!

With her eyes spitting fire, and her Russian temper going at full bore, Susan held the Lochley by the throat as she practically growled out, "Don't even dare think of talking to me, you psychotic piece of garbage! You are a COMPLETE embarrassment to any uniform in existence! You're lucky that I can't simply space you here and now! As it is, your ass will off this Station in the next half an hour or the Security personnel in charge of helping you "pack" will be answering to ME!"

Zack stepped forward at that moment and said, "I anticipated that order, Ma'am, and personally made sure that "Captain" Lochley's effects were packed this morning as she took care of the last of the paperwork involved in the transfer of Command. The luggage has been checked in and her ticket on the next outbound transport for Earth this afternoon has been confirmed."

Susan crisply nodded to Zack and then turned her attention back to Lochley. "Make sure you're on it, _bludnica _(whore)! And just to make my position on your VERY short stay left on this Station crystal clear, make doubly sure that I don't EVER see hide nor hair of your disgusting carcass from here on in."

At this point, Lochley collected enough of her rattled wits together to shake off Susan's hold and get, "How dare…" out of her mouth before Susan landed another devastating right cross. This time, Lochley was out for the count and

Susan barely controlled the urge to spit on what she considered to be human offal that was crumpled at her feet.

Instead she looked up and said, "To paraphrase another singer from the era that song you all chose was from, that whore was damn well NOT woman enough to take my man!" before stepping over her now vanquished and unconscious foe, stalking over to Marcus and then laying a kiss on the stunned Ranger that made even to most pornographic wet dreams of his teenage years pale in comparison.


End file.
